A manly Craftsman

Not so much back to tatting (I wish) but still lace / needlecraft related.

I had a Beds class with Hilary Davies here in Austin Saturday and Sunday November 20 and 21, 2010.

I had to move my current project to an old pillow I both loathe and have great memories of. Styrofoam breaks down and makes a nasty squeaking noise when the pins go in. I want to go back to this project so I needed to spangle some bobbins. I needed 30 to 40 pairs for the workshop (yes that’s 60 to 80 bobbins). So I had to spangle 14 pairs beyond what I had readily available.

I started my lace making supplies with six dozen Lacis bobbins. I then added a dozen from Holly (like SMP) and then for my last anniversary (August 21) I received 100 Middlands and 100 Honitons acquired from SMP. Tonight I spangled the last Middland bobbin in my collection of 184 Middlands. And just when I was starting to really enjoy spangling.

What I really am dwelling on though is how little the people I know understand what it is I do. Someday I need to do a demonstration at my younger son's elementary school.

I spend a lot of time on a playground waiting for after school programs to end or the older child’s school to let out (5 minutes away). So I am part of the picnic table crowd, most of whom, including myself, are active on the PTA board. I am the music liaison, mainly I type things for the music teacher and update her website.

So I am talking about spangling and a woman asks me. “What is a bobbin?” So I explain bobbins and bobbin lace. I also explain that I do not want to be caught again with too few bobbins for a workshop. So I explained that I needed 30 to 40 pairs for the workshop, to which a person who I have talked to before about bobbin lace exclaims “For the group or just yourself?”

When I said for myself she got this shocked look on her face and said “I had no idea.”

Ok fine we expect this, but being a male lace maker I did not expect the next day to get into one of those one-ups-man-ship macho conversations about needlework.

This is another father of a first grader; mine are first fourth and eighth. The first time I noticed this man the school was in lockdown and I was staring out the window at a man I did not recognize sitting on top of one of the play structures.

We have talked a few times so when I saw him on the top of the slide I said “you really like being elevated” forgetting that he is a rock climber.

He is originally from Essex so listening to his accent I thought of Hilary and told him about my workshop. He then started asking me about bobbin lace. But his questions were not like others’. He was focusing in on the needlecraft distinctions; stitches, loops, knots, weaving. I had to ask

“What needlework do you do?” and that’s when the manliness took over.
“Cross-stitch”
“Counted or printed”
“Counted”

Turned out he does these copies of masterwork painting using single and double strands so of course I had to mention my experience with mixed colors, half-stitches, 22 count Aida.

So now for my challenge:
“I was one of those that put the knot on the front and stitches over the thread underneath so there are no knots in my work.”

‘Yeah, people look at my back and say, it looks like the front. But why shouldn’t it?”

“Yes, I took a needlepoint in to be blocked and the woman turned it over and asked if I had made it." She then said "Men are always so much neater on the back.”

“That’s because we get more into the technical aspects of the craft.”

Just before his son asked if they could finally leave we went on. He asked if I know what goes on with needles. He used gold plated tapestry needles, very small ones.

“I end up squeezing the eye pushing it through and eventually the eye distorts and then breaks.”

“I have not had that problem but mine always develop a curve to them”

“Yes from squeezing as you pull them out.”

We then discussed our methods of needle disposal; tape, card, etc. Don't want the wife rummaging through the garbage and getting stuck now do we.

It was a nice conversation, but it was strange realizing afterward that I had just gone through traditional male bonding over the topic of cross stitch. Cool.

Back to the past

I originally meant this blog to reflect my activities and thoughts on tatting and thus the recent lack of any activity.

I still want to tat but my life has been quite hectic so art, crafts and music have not had their rightful place in my life. Unfortunately I am finding that my mental health is taking a turn for the worse because of this.

I am still taking a lace class but if it were not for the actual class times I would not be doing any lace at all. There is a workshop on Beds in November and since I have been working on Beds for a while I plan on attending. Wow almost six hours a day for two days; should be fun.

There was something that happened today that I want to tell people about, but before I get to that a little background or rambling, depending on how you look at it.

In order to try and put some life back into my existence I have decided to take up the traverso again. I have started to playing-in some of my one-key transverse flutes and have been more or less happy with my progress.

I am over halfway playing in my Verhoeven Beaulieu bore in Blackwood with no rings, pitched at A=392 hz; a gorgeous instrument both in appearance and sound (http://users.skynet.be/fluiten/sold.html look for number 89). The bore is based on a French flute circa 1720. It has a small embouchure hole and this took some getting used to. At first I was very concerned about intonation and unevenness, but it was me not the flute.

When I first took of the “baroque flute” back in FEbruary of 1981 I was mainly a recorder player and had played baritone in High School. I had wanted a “baroque flute” for a while mainly because of a recording I fell in love with: Michel de La Barre, Pieces Pour La Flute Traversiere, 1710.

Stephen Preston used a copy of a Hotteterre flute. It was the most amazing sound I had ever heard. It is a great recording and I still get a little annoyed at myself for taking so long to figure out just who Jordi Savall, Blandine Verlet and Hopkinson Smith were, a few year actually.

But in 1984 Amster Music and Art shop, sold me a Moeck one-key in Blackwood and ivory. It was funny; the main saleman knew me and knew I might buy the flute. When he saw that I had seen the flute he almost knocked one of the other employees down getting to me. I seem to remember the flute costing about $500 back then and it being the largest check I had ever written. I was so nervous I had to get on my knees and my writing was a bit more than a little shaky.

I still like this flute and now that my Verhoeven is in its third week of breaking in (30 minutes a day) and my CF (later) is still in its second week (10 minutes, twice a day) I started playing-in the Moeck today.

Now the Moeck is a copy of a F.G. Kirst (1750 – 1806) so though alright for Quantz, CPE Bach and the like, it certainly never satisfied my desire for the sound Preston produces on the Hotteterre copy.

After two weeks I am getting control over the Beaulieu bore and when I play La Barre I can actually hear the sound I have been after, even if I am still horribly out of practice.

So here I will leave off for now and get ready for bed. When I can’t sleep, all too often, I sit in a recliner and listen to my mp3 player. It was mainly Blavet and Quantz, but the last couple of days it has been Locatelli. I appear to be addicted to the flute again. I hope this is a good thing at this time in my life. It does make me feel good, I am even exercising (a little).

Feeling Punchy

I remember once on the original eTatters having a bunch (ok three or four) people taking issue with me knowing how many double knots were in the project I was working on. There were also some people that thought it was a good idea, especially if you are a teacher or a seller.

In Mary Konior’s Network I came up with something like 7614 double stitches. Of course all the rings have the same number of stitches and all the chains are the same length or half that. So it was easy math, especially since I had to keep track of where I was to know when to insert the rings within the mesh. This is the piece I did in 2006 when I published the ds count.Today’s math was easier, but we will get to that in a minute.

Since it is hard for me to pull out my pillow when the kids are home, but I had some time I decided to get ahead on my prickings. I am on lesson 2a in Barbara M. Underwood’s Introducing Traditional Bedfordshire Lace in 20 Lessons. I already have the pricking for lesson 2b created and punched so on to Lesson 3.

What most people may not realize is that I must agree with Alexandra Stillwell, “The most important factor in an attempt to achieve good lace is to use an accurate pricking, and to draft it oneself is the answer,” from Drafting Torchon Lace Patterns. I do hope to acquire this book someday.

Lesson 3 in Introducing Traditional Bedfordshire Lace in 20 Lessons is a circle requiring 18 pairs of bobbins.

At first I decided to just copy the pricking from the book and I got as far as printing it on a piece of a Manila File Folder and covering it with plastic. Then before I started punching pinholes I decided it was just too uneven for my technocratic self.

So I drew it using DrawPlus X2. Now the first thing you need to know is how many repeating patterns. In this case 72 so every 5°, so a few concentric circles a few lines all drawn over a scan of the original. Some simple rotating of copies and voilà you have a pricking.

So print, cover and punch. Punching pin holes can be very relaxing, but I might have done too much. My right hand is a bit sore. But if each repetition has nineteen pin holes, 72 of them will have 1368. Here is a photographically enhanced view of the back.Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully I will tell you about Christmas soon.

TTFN
Pat The Tat Rat

A Tatting Fiasco

Strictly figuratively speaking; today I have turned around and may have flipped my vehicle in so doing.

Some time ago (October of 2007) I started the T.A.T. Tatting Proficiency Program. The first project required size 10 thread and I decided to use the shuttles that appear in my September 20, 2007 post on this blog.

Shortly thereafter I had an allergic reaction to a medication and the swelling caused my tendons to become inflamed so I had to quit tatting for a while.

Recently I have started tatting again and shortly after my return to the art I became involved with an online Design class.

Since I had these shuttles still loaded from the end of 2007 I decided to use them.

I remember how much trouble some of us had with these shuttles. Since the ends did not close very well the shuttles have a tendency to run away should you let one loose. I have watched video of the maker tat so I know that my manipulation and his are very different so I can see how it would not be a concern for him.

In the design class I did a simple second row pattern and was fairly happy with the look. But, I decided to try some simple modifications as an aside. Well today I was making a join and I shredded the thread. Grabbed the wrong hook I think. Well between torn thread and frustration with the shuttles I cut the project (literally) and unscrewed the shuttles (three at this point) and removed the thread.

The shuttles have been packed with my other archived shuttles and I will return to the project I started to take with me on vacation last July. But I will need to decide which shuttles to use with size 10 thread. I have a few clovers that would run away, clicking all the way down, with size 20, but they are small, especially compared with the ones I have retired.

Well I felt I had to rant so as a little gift for your time here is a picture of my design project. All rings are 4-4-4-4 and all chains are either 10 or 5-5. I just ask for fair attribution should you attempt to copy it. I will post a pattern someday.


TTFN
Pat T.

It is hard to believe it was last November when I last made a posting. I knew I was inconsistent but that is a bit much. The name Tattered Musing originally reflected my obsession with tatting. But due to many obstacles I have done little in tatting until recently.

I have been taking a bobbin lace class but since finishing my last project (June 18, 2009) I have had little time for hobbies, sort of.

We did take a vacation mid-July to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine Texas. In preparation for vacation I started Mary Konior’s Network in a vivid pink. I was so out of practice that my tension changed so much taht about a quarter of the way through I decided it was not worth continuing.

I bought some of the new Lizbeth thread in a beautiful blue and began Mary Konior’s Spinning wheel (glass mat version). I did do a little on vacation though on the last day at Great Wolf Lodge I had to do a little retro-tatting and there was not enough light. So I waited until I got home.

Since then I have occasionally been able to work on the tatting. I have also been trying to find time to work on a Spanish Bobbin Lace pillow. For my birthday a couple of weekends ago I received some nice Spanish Bobbins and some small square bobbins.


I went to Jo-Ann’s a couple of days ago (Tuesday) and ran into my Lace Teacher (who does not live in Austin). She had just come from the class, which I have not been able to attend all summer. My son shouted “Oh, you’ll be able to go next week,” when school starts. I had not even thought about that. The official start date for the class is September 14, 2009, but we still meet between sessions.

So now I need to start that Bedfordshire project since I won’t have the Spanish Pillow ready by next week for the Torchon piece I want to study.

I guess my main concern right now has to do with scissors. I started working on an online design class and decided to empty some bobbins holding size 10 crochet cotton. I set up a second box to carry my tatting around in.


Unfortunately the only scissors that fit this box are my Gingher Stork embroidery scissors. Cutting the size 10 I started to worry about the scissors, they felt strained. So I wrote Gingher. They think I should be using my W-4 or my W-5s. They do not fit in the box. So I will be real careful and only use the tips when I have to cut a thread sticking out of the double stitches.

With my bobbin lace, I have a bigger box and have a pair of Gingher Lion Tail embroidery scissors for finishing work. I have a pair of detail scissor for most thread cutting.

Well back to tatting, if I have time after the laundry.

Take care!

Fig. 53 Handbuch Der Schiffchenspitze, band 2.

Yesterday (24 Nov 2008) I finished another of the figures related to fig. 51 in Tina Frauberger’s Handbuch Der Schiffchenspitze, band 2. Like fig. 52, fig. 53 encloses fig. 51.

I am for the most part pleased with my work. My tension is still inconsistent but my bridge and split ring are better than in fig. 52. I used a lock stitch at the end of the chain leading to the last ring and at the end of the bridge I brought the last stitch out the bottom of the chain. This results in the threads exiting in the direction of the split ring.

In fig. 52 I did a normal chain and bridge and just brought the thread up towards the split ring. This resulted in some amount of twist and distortion.

The one experiment / questionable practice came at the start of the chain after the split ring. I did not like the looks and I had forgotten my Magic Thread. I did a little retro-tatting and produced an acceptable chain. I few chains later I realized that I had again forgotten my Magic Thread. My original intent was to just sew-in the one thread. In the end I decided to try putting two Magic Threads in a single chain. The technique works but produces a really fat and mis-shaped chain. You can see the bridge, split ring and fat chain just to the right of 12 o’clock.

Fig. 53 is nice but I mainly worked it up so I could compare it Mary Konior’s Small Cross on pages 88 and 89 of her Tatting with Visual Patterns. After studying Mary Konior’s cross I have found that with the exception of modifications to turn a six arm figure into a four armed figure the patterns match. Many of the knot counts are the same.

I hope to start on the cross as early as tomorrow, well maybe after thanksgiving. I will explain the similarities and the differences in a later posting.

It is nice to be tatting again. Now if I can just get my knots consistent and find a block of time to work on my bobbin lace lesson.

TTFN

Lace books are getting harder to find

I first wrote about Tina Frauberger’s Handbuch Der Schiffchenspitze back in December of 2007 I received inquiries concerning how to get the book. One, in an email, stayed in my inbox for the longest time and now I cannot find it. I did want to reply but I was never sure what to say.

I received a comment yesterday with an interesting statement “Someone on E-tatters gave me a web site address that carries the book, but the site is in German, and I was wondering if you knew of a site selling the book that I could correspond with in English?” In all probability I was the “Someone on E-tatters.”

I still have a copy of the email I sent to the people who sold me the book in which I apologize for not speaking German.

I really wish I could help everyone get access to Tina Frauberger’s work. I remember when I first started struggling with onion-rings having a well know teacher wrote in passing that I should study the work of Tina Frauberger and in one email I got the impression that her work was ubiquitous through-out the tatting community. I did find out differently later when I tried to find these works.

I mentioned the German website to this teacher in a email in March of 2007. It was in August of that year that I wrote my first email to the sellers. I sent a second email in October. I received my first reply in November of 2007. I received the book on December 10, 2007.

I had spent over a year trying to obtain copies of these books and I hope that the German site is still responding to international orders. I received one of their newsletters last June and that is the last I have heard from them.

It is very frustrating trying to get older Lace books. I joke that of Mary Konior’s four known published works I have five. She published a pamphlet for a Women’s organization in the UK and I was able to obtain a copy. It is mainly written instruction with only two patterns but it is a rare treasure and I treat it that way.

But let us consider Mary Konior’s most well known publication, Tatting with Visual Patterns. If I go to Amazon.com a new paperback copy is listed today at $210.64, a used one is more. If I go to Lacis I can order a copy for $20.00. We need to thank Lacis. The edition they sell is their own. So the open market is overpricing B T Batsford’s edition while the wonderful Lacis Publications has taken up producing this work.

Unfortunately they do not have the ability to publish everything. Try to get the wonderful and some would say necessary Practical Skills in Bobbin Lace by Bridget M. Cook for under $100.00. I cannot find one. OK, I bought the last one.

I want to work on lace today, especially to post my finished version of fig. 53 with some comments. I wish I could find a reasonably priced copy of New Braids and Designs in Milanese Lace, currently over $200.00 on Amazon.

I am so spoiled with my books and my crafts. My dream was once that I could find copies of the original publications of Tina Frauberger’s works so I could scan them and put them on the Antique Patterns web site. I have a reproduction so I do not own any rights.

I hope those that want copies can get them, but the German site is the only source I know. Today even the few what once seemed expensive originals are gone. I did see one copy of band 2 for over $90.00 but that’s it. Persistence is what found me mine, I wish you luck.

I cannot work on lace today because I am getting the house ready for Thanksgiving, I shouldn’t be working on this. We are having people over and I already have Turkey from Honey Baked Ham and will be getting Brisket from Rudy’s. My main concern has been how long I will have to stand in line.

I was thinking of these things on my way to drop my children off at school today when I heard an article on Zimbabwe.

I hope I can remember over Thanksgiving to say an extra prayer for those in Zimbabwe and all the other areas of the world where there is so little food that finding a kernel of undigested corn in animal manure is a treasure.